Window shade or the like



April 21, 1942. c. TIETlG WINDOW SHADE OR THE LIKE Filed Aug. 9, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 April 21, 1942. c. TIETIG WINDOW SHADE OR THE LIKE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 9, 1959 Patented Apr. 21, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE WINDOW SHADE OR. THE LIKE Chester Tietlg, Covington, Ky.

Application August 9, 1939, Serial No. 289,247

6 Claims.

This invention relates to a window shade.

Among the objects of the invention is to provide a double shade which by a small movement of one part thereof relative to the other part will act to exclude light wholly or partially.

Another object is to provide a shade through which a small amount of light may enter in a well distributed relation over the entire window; or a considerable amount of light may be allowed to enter, this stronger light being also well distributed over the window. The results of such a distribution are privacy and absence of glare.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a front view partly broken away of a shade made according to my invention.

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken from a position corresponding to that upon which Figure 2 was taken. The three 'views mentioned constitute one form f the invention in which the light polarizing me ium known as Polaroid" is employed. Figure 3 shows the preferred form.

Figure 4 is a view corresponding to Figure l withthis difference, that alternate opaque and transparent strips are employed instead of P0- laroid.

Figure 5 is a view taken on line 5-5 of Figure 4 and shows a cross section of the shade and roller of the form in which two shades are mounted on one roller and one piece of elastic is employed.

Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 5 except that it shows two elastics employed in one shade.

Figure '7 is a view similar to Figure 3 and shows the employment of two separate rollers and two shades.

Figure 8 is an edgewise fragmentary view of the portion of shades showing them closed against the entrance of light.

Referring now to Figures 1 and 4, i0 is a sheet of Cellophane," Plioiilm," Koroseal" or cloth impregnated with the latter, or some similar sheet of thin, strong, relatively transparent material. On said sheet are cemented or otherwise attached, alternate strips of transversely and vertically polarized Polaroid. This material is understood to be a sheet of transparent material upon which very fine crystals of iodo--quinine sulfate are arranged as a coating, said crystals being oriented all in the same direction. The transparent material upon which the crystals are so arranged may be any of the above mentioned materials or nitro-cellulose.

The strips H are made preferably about 1 inches wide but the invention is not limited to any particular dimensions. The crosswiseand vertically-polarized strips are made preferably of the same width. By vertically-polarized" or horizontally-polarized is meant that the crystals are arranged horizontally or vertically, respectively, these being denoted by H and Ha respectively.

I2 is an ordinary shade roller and I3 are the usual tacks or other fastening devices with which shades are attachable to such rollers. A strong spring (not shown) must be used in such rollers since the shades of my invention weigh more than ordinary ones.

The strips I I upon which the crystals are distributed may be cemented to the transparent sheet ID- or it is also possible that the crystals themselves could be distributed upon the transparent sheet 10 itself in alternate horizontal and vertical arrangement in strip, without the use of any additional sheet material for supporting them. It is permissible to attach the sheet material of the strips to the main sheet I0 in any known manner, as for example, by adhesives or by the use of solvents or by the use of heat alone provided such heat is not great enough to adversely affect the crystals.

Two similar sheets, i. e., two shades are necessary in order to produce the effect. One shade must be superposed over the other, consequently there is provided a second or under sheet II which is in all respects similar to the upper sheet Ill and also bears the strips ll. As shown in Figures 1 and 4, this sheet bears an elastic strip I5 between it and the roller. A similar strip can also be employed in the upper shade Ill.

As shown in Figures 3 and 7, the two shades may be arranged on different rollers, i. e., one above the other. This is the preferred form and in such a case only one elastic strip I5 is convenient and it may be used on either the upper or lower shade. It is preferably located near the upper end of the shade although the invention is not limited to having it in any particular location. A plurality of such strips, as shown in Figure 6 may be employed. The purpose of the elastic strip I5 is to enable the strips II and II a on one shade, i. e., the one bearing the elastlc, to be moved relative to the similar strips on the other shade without rotating the rollers. It is obvious, however, that adjustment can also be accomplished by rotating the roller to move one of the shades up or down, although the degree of register may not be exactly as close as desired, as for instance in a case where it is dein addition to the usual paint vehicle.

sired to exclude all light. The condition in which substantially all light would be excluded is shown in Figure 8.

Other light blocking media may be employed on the transparent shades l and M besides "Polaroid. As shown in Figures 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8, strips ii of opaque material may be employed. Such strips are preferably kept as thin as possible, their thickness being exaggerated in the figures just named for purposes of illustration. The strips l6 are made preferably of aluminum paint or aluminum ink printed on the paper but any other ink or any other paint may be employed provided it is substantially opaque and adheres well to the transparent sheet. It is even permissible to use semi-translucent material such as paints bearing only a small proportion of pigment and a large proportion of dye, The color of the strips l6 can be selected to match or agree with the prevailing color scheme in the room in which the shades are to be used.

As shown in Figures 2, and 6, it is possible to attach both shades l0 and H to the same roller. In such case, the roller must be held at a greater distance from the window frame by brackets in order to allow sufficient clearance to roll two shades upon it without interfering with the window frame and also a strong enough spring must be provided in the shade roller to counter-balance the weight of two shades.

For best effect in blocking light, it is preferred that the shades be so arranged that they are close together, as shown in all of the figures. It is, however, permissible to have them as much as 3 or 4 inches apart, if a diffused light is desired.

As shown in Figure 4, some of the strips, for instance, the strips 24 and 25, may be perforated,

so as to allow air to diffuse into the room through the shades. 26 is a row of such perforations. They may be made of any shape and may be punched through transparent or opaque portions of the shade or both. The perforations 26 are arranged, however, so that they will register when the strip 25 on the uppershade is placed over the strip 24 on the lower shade. That is to say, the perforations are arranged equidistantly in respect to the width of the shades and the row of such perforations starts and stops at points which are the same in respect to the edges of the shade on both of the shades. In this way registry can be achieved.

The construction in which spaced rows of perforations run across two cooperating shades is not confined to transparent shades onto shades bearing alternate transparent and non-transparent strips. Although it may be employed in the shades of the polaroid type, as shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3 from which the perforations have been omitted for the sake of clearness, it nevertheless lies within the purview of my invention to perforate ordinary opaque window shades crosswise with strips of perforations substantially at right angles to the edges of the shades, said strips being in such relation to each other so that perforated strips and non-perforated strips of substantially equal width alternate throughout the length of the shade. In other words, the shades shown in Figure 5 may be entirely opaque except for the perforations 26 and such perforations are put in alternate rows corresponding to the positions of the now transparent strips. It is also part of the invention to utilize two strip perforated shades together in the manner shown and described so that the perforations may be brought into register in the same manner as the transparent or opaque strips have ben described as being brought into register. By means of such strips of perforations, the ventilating effect of a Venetian blind may be achieved by much simpler means and at a lesser cost.

In the interpretation of this specification and claims thereunder, windows of glass or synthetic plastic material when striped or perforated as described and claimed are to be regarded as full equivalents of window shades. Any conventional means for moving such windows up or down are to be regarded as the full equivalents of the shade rollers herein shown. In other words, it lies within the purview of my invention to substitute a striped sheet of stiff transparent material for the shade cloth or paper and to stripe or perforate such windows as described.

As a mounting for the two shade rollers and shades employed in the modification of my device shown in Figures 3 and 7, I prefer to use the device shown and claimed in U. S. Patent No. 2,161,535, June 6, 1939, to C. Schwarzenbach and Harry Demmitt but no such device is necessary for the proper functioning of any modification of my invention. The device mentioned in the patent above cited would be used for ornamental purposes only.

There are numerous materials, other than those mentioned, which are suitable for either the manufacture of my shade or window. For the shade I may also use ethyl cellulose, cellulose acetate, oiled silk, which is merely translucent or paper rendered as transparent as possible in strips by impregnation with castor oil. For the window, I may use sheets of methyl methacrylate, cellulose acetate, vinyl acetate, transparent urea resins or similar products. The perforations may be molded into such sheets, if desired. A window is not illustrated because a shade looks essentially like it and one illustration will serve for both devices, especially since everyone is familiar with means for adjusting windows. I refer to the ordinary counterweight and pulley arrangement of window sash or the ratchet and rack devices used in railway passenger cars.

I claim as my invention: y

1. A window shade comprising a transparent flexible sheet, a plurality of spaced strips thereon, said strips being of a nature to interfere with the passage of light therethru.

2. A window shade comprising a roller, a transparent flexible shade attached in the conventional manner to said roller, light blocking strips arranged horizontally on said shade in spaced relation to each other, a second roller and shade of the same nature between said first shade and a source of light and means on one of said shades for altering the relative register of the light blocking strips on one of said shades relative to the similar strips on said second shade.

3. A window shade comprising a pair of rollers, a transparent shade attached to each roller, said shades being arranged to parallel each other closely when drawn down, a plurality of light blocking stripsarranged crosswise on said shades to alternate with equally broad transparent strips and means at the bottom of said shades for keeping the said transparent strips in register with each other or with non-transparent strips, as desired.

4. A window shade comprising a pair of shade rollers, a light-permeable sheet attached to each light-blocking strips arranged crosswise on said shades to alternate with light-permeable strips and a strip of elastic material included in one of said sheets near the roller whereby the register of said sheets as to each other when they are completely extended may be adjusted.

6. A window shade comprising a transparent sheet, a plurality of spaced strips thereon, said strips being of a nature to interfere with the 10 passage of light therethrough.

' CHESTER TIETIG. 

